In what is perhaps Aesop Rock’s most famous song, he attacks conformity in mainstream hip-hop, the political establishment, the schooling system and its role as gate-keeper and tool of the corporate world, and law enforcement.
[Intro]
I’m— trust me, I’m— trust me, I’m trying to help
I’m— trust me, I’m— trust me, I’m trying to help
[Verse 1]
Flash that buttery gold
Jittery zeitgeist, wither by the watering hole, what a patrol
What are we to Heart Huckabee, art fuckery suddenly
Not enough young in his lung for the water wings
Colorfully vulgar poacher, out of mulch
Like, “I’ma pull the pulse out a soldier and bolt”
Fine, sign of the time we elapse
When a primate climb up a spine and attach
Eye for an eye, by the bog life swamps and vines
They get a rise out of frogs and flies
So when a dogfight’s hog-tied prize sort of costs a life
The mouths water on a fork and knife
And the allure isn’t right
No score on a war-torn beach
Where the cash cow’s actually beef
Blood turns wine when it leak for police
Like, “That’s not a riot; it’s a feast, let’s eat!”
[Chorus]
And I will remember your name and face
On the day you are judged by The Funhouse cast
And I will rejoice in your fall from grace
With a cane to the sky, like, “None shall pass”
None shall pass, none shall pass
[Verse 2]
Now, if you never had a day a snow cone couldn’t fix
You wouldn’t relate to the rogue vocoder blitz
How he spoke through a NoDoz motor on the fritz
‘Cause he wouldn’t play rollover fetch like a bitch
And express no regrets, though he isn’t worth a homeowner’s piss
To the jokers who pose by the glitz
Fine, sign of the swine in the swarm
When a king is a whore who comply and conform
Miles outside of the eye of the storm
With a siphon to lure out a prize and award
While avoiding the vile and bizarre that is violence and war
True blue triumph is more
Like, “Wait, let it snake up out of the centerfold
Let it break the walls of Jericho, ready go”
Sat where the old, cardboard city folk
Swap tales with heads, like every other penny throw
[Chorus]
And I will remember your name and face
On the day you are judged by The Funhouse cast
And I will rejoice in your fall from grace
With a cane to the sky, like, “None shall pass”
None shall pass, none shall pass
[Interlude]
You tried, you tried, you tried to trick me
You’ve got a, you’ve, you’ve got a, a lot of nerve
I’m, I’m not, I’m not, trying to trick you
I’m try, I’m try, I’m trying to help
[Verse 3]
Okay, woke to a grocery list, goes like this:
Duty and Death
Anyone object, come stand in the way
You could be my little Snake River Canyon today
And I ran with a chain of commands
And a jetpack strapped where the backstab lands if it can
Fine, sign of the vibe in the crowd
When I cut a belly open to find what climb out
That’s quite a bit of gusto he muster up
To make a dark horse rush, like, “Enough’s enough!”
It must’ve struck a nerve so they huff and puff
'Til all the king’s men fluster and clusterfuck
And it’s a beautiful thing
To my people who keep an impressive wingspan
Even when the cubicle shrink
You got to pull up the intruder by the root of the weed